The Denver Broncos stunned the New York Jets last night on Thursday night football at Mile High Stadium. Tim Tebow completed 9 passes for 104yds , rushed for another 68yds and the game winning touchdown late in the 4th quarter to seal the victory. The win now improves Denver to 5-5 and a half game out of 1st place in the AFC West; 4-1 under Tebow. The Jets continue to struggle and drop their 2nd straight, and now fall to 3rd in the AFC East.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

1. 49ers win again ; Prove they can win through Smith.
- The 49ers did not only win the game with solid defense, but they won with the offense going through Alex Smith. Frank Gore struggled with 0 yards on 6 carries through the first half, with the running game not effective for most of the contest, the 49ers turned to Alex Smith who completed 19 of 30 passes for 242 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 int that bounced right off the hands of Ted Ginn. Coming off a big win @ New England, Eli Manning and the New York Giants were favored by most experts. Smith matched Manning pass for pass and the 49ers improve to 8-1 with their 7th straight win.

2. Patriots beat the Jets; own the AFC East.
- Although the Jets are only a game behind New England, it is clear that the Patriot are the best team in the division. Mark Sanchez continues to struggle and Rex Ryan continues to praise and back up his quarterback. Tom Brady and the Patriots offense played a near perfect game and will be a scary team going forward.

3. 2 completions enough for Tebow and the Broncos.
- Despite only 2 complete passes, the Broncos win another game with Tebow at the helms and improve to 4-5, 3-1 since Tebow has taken over. The Chiefs have dropped 2 straight and Matt Cassel's hand is not healthy. The Chiefs might have to turn to Tyler Palko this Sunday when they travel to New England. The Broncos are still in the division hunt trailing 1 game to the Raiders who came off a big win in San Diego Thursday night, with big performances by Carson Palmer, Michael Bush, and Denarius Moore.

4. Texans win again ; Matt Shaub out, Matt Leinart in.
- Matt Shaub is out indefinitely with a foot injury. That means it's Matt Leinart time in Houston. The Texans currently hold the number 1 seed in the AFC with a 7-3 record, it is now Matt Leinart's time to show he still has something and lead this Texans team to a division title. Leinart's last start was in 2009 with the Arizona Cardinals.

5. NFC West goes 4-0.
- The Arizona Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles 21-17 in Philly. John Skelton has done a great job after taking over for the injured Kevin Kolb. It will be interesting to see what the Cardinals do at quarterback when Kolb is healthy. Another upset was the Seattle Seahawks beating the Baltimore Ravens at Quest field. Baltimore, who was considered by many as the top AFC team was the heavy favorite going into the game. 2 of the 3 losses that the Ravens have suffered has been to the 3-6 Jacksonville Jaguars and 3-6 Seahawks. St. Louis won in Cleveland 13-12 , and the 49ers win at the stick 27-20 against the Giants.

1. Green Bay Packers 9-0 ; Who can stop Aaron Rodgers and the Pack?2. San Francisco 49ers 8-1 ; Another win against a top team. That win was all on Alex Smith's arm, and now people are starting to believe. 3. New Orleans Saints 7-3 ; Huge win against a division rival and a good team in the Falcons. Minus the forgettable loss to the Rams, the Saints have been playing well.4. Pittsburgh Steelers 7-3 ; Back and forth game in Cincinnati but Pittsburgh came out on top. 7-1 vs teams not named the Baltimore Ravens.5. New York Giants 6-3 ; Although they lost a tough game in the west coast against a strong 49er team, Eli and the Giants are playing good football going in to the later part of the season.6. New England Patriots 6-3 ; That was a statement game against the Jets. The Patriots showed who owns the AFC East, for now.7. Baltimore Ravens 6-3 ; Sweep the Steelers, and lose to Jacksonville and Seattle. Doesn't make much sense.8. Chicago Bears 6-3 ; Absolutely destroyed Detroit in all phases of the game. The Bears have now won 4 of their last 5. 9. Houston Texans 7-3 ; Losing Matt Shaub will be a big blow going forward. Let's see if Matt Leinart is ready for the keys to this muscle car.10. Dallas Cowboys 5-4 ; Tony Romo and this offense is starting to heat up. DeMarco Murray is a promising back for the boys. 11. Cincinnati Bengals 6-3 ; Even though they lost against the Steelers, that game showed that the Bengals are a contender.12. Atlanta Falcons 5-4 ; Tough loss to a very good Saints team. Promising signs Matt Ryan and the offense is starting to roll.13. New York Jets 5-4 ; Still in the hunt. Rex Ryan needs to stop with the predictions and worry about getting this team on track.14. Detroit Lions 6-3 ; After a 5-0 start, the Lions have lost 3 of their last 4 games. Have they been figured out?15. Buffalo Bills 5-4 ; Another team who had a hot start and have now fallen into the pack. The Bills have lost 4 of their last 6 games, and some of these games haven't been close.16. Oakland Raiders 5-4 ; Impressive win over the inconsistent Chargers. Every win is crucial in the mediocre AFC West. If Carson Palmer can air the ball out like he did Thursday, the Raiders will be fine.17. Tennessee Titans 5-4 ; I really thought the Titans would struggle playing in Carolina, they proved a lot of people wrong after destroying the Panthers.18. San Diego Chargers 4-5 ; What is going on in San Diego? Phillip Rivers and gang need to figure this out. Norv Turner has a lot of work to do. 19. Denver Broncos 4-5 ; Tim Tebow won the game with 2 completions. Yes, 2 completions. Tebow has the it factor and the Broncos are 3-1 with Tebow as the starter this year.20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4-5 ; The bye week could not have came at a better time. Josh Freeman has to step up next week with a big test against the Packers.21. Philadelphia Eagles 3-6 ; The season is done for the dream team. No identity and no fire from the early season favorite.22. Kansas City Chiefs 4-5 ; Ugly effort from the Chiefs offense Sunday. They need to figure things out, fast, if they want to stay in the race in the AFC West.23. Arizona Cardinals 3-6 ; John Skelton played very well in Philadelphia. Will the Cardinals stay with Skelton even when Kolb is healthy?24. Seattle Seahawks 3-6 ; The Seahawks are always tough at home, and proved it with a big win at home vs Baltimore. Let's see if the Seahawks can build off this one.25. Miami Dolphins 2-7 ; The Dolphins have been playing good football. 2-0 for the phins the last 2 weeks.26. Jacksonville Jaguars 3-6 ; Maurice Jones-Drew is keeping this team in games. Jason Hill has become a favorite target to QB Blaine Gabbert.27. Carolina Panthers 2-7 ; Many people thought the Panthers would finish the season strong. Not a great start to the 2nd half of the season.28. St. Louis Rams 2-7 ; They will take any kind of win at this point. Steven Jackson deserves some recognition, he is still an elite back. 29. Cleveland Browns 3-6 ; The Browns need to figure something out on offense. The defense hasn't been the problem.30. Minnesota Vikings 2-7 ; Christian Ponder is a promising QB for the Vikings. The rest of the season will be to get Ponder and the offense familiar with one another.31. Washington Redskins 3-6 ; It's hard to believe this team started 3-1 and was in the top 10 in most rankings after the 1st quarter of the season.32. Indianapolis Colts 0-10 ; There has been winnable games for the Colts, and they aren't winning them. They are that bad.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Tonight will be the first Thursday night game on NFL Network when the Oakland Raiders travel to San Diego to take on the Chargers. Both teams have struggled recently and are both tied for the division lead at 4-4 with the Kansas City Chiefs. This is a huge divisional match up with the winner getting the 1 game lead to start the second half of the season. My Prediction: I was not a fan of the Carson Palmer pickup, I think Jason Campbell is the better long term QB option and Palmer has not been the same since the 2005 season. Although the Raiders have found their run game and are very aggressive on defense, San Diego has more weapons in the passing game and I look for Phillip Rivers and Vincent Jackson to have a big night. Chargers win this one 27-17.

One of yesterday's topics on "NFL Huddle" NFL Network, was about the San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants match-up. I couldn't help but to respond on some of the points that were being made by the debate. From the beginning of the argument, it was all about Eli Manning being "Elite". I can't really disagree with that point, because I do think he is playing at a high level and is the main reason why New York is 6-2 and leading the NFC East. Jamie Dukes, Deion Sanders, and Willie McGinest do NOT believe in Alex Smith. McGinest said if the 49ers get down by 14 or 21pts that Alex Smith will not be able to match up in a shootout. Sapp argued and said something along the lines of, "When your playing that kind of defense and controlling the trenches with that run game, you won't be down by that many points." Sanders said he thinks the Giants are going to win the game and that San Francisco is due for that let down game that all teams have. For more on the topic, watch the video and subscribe to my YouTube channel, tristanf17, and TJ's Sports Take!